Evaluation of fall risk in patients with vestibular dysfunction

The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of falls in a group of young adult patients with vestibular dysfunction. A total of 149 patients with BPPV, bilateral vestibular hypofunction and unilateral vestibular hypofunction (BVH and UVH) diagnosed with Videonystagmography and with an average age of 43 participated voluntarily in the study. After VNG, the participants were subjected to head thrust test, Unterberger, Romberg, dynamic visual acuity, bucket tests, tandem, semitandem eyes open/closed stance tests, eyes open/closed stance test on one leg, along with Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) and Fall Risk Self-assessment Scale (FRS-DS). When the findings regarding the vestibular pathologies of the patients participating in the study were evaluated, it was determined that the most common diagnoses were unilateral vestibular hypofunction, bilateral vestibular hypofunction and BPPV, respectively. When the participants were examined according to gender, it was found that the risk of falling was significantly higher in female patients in the FRS-DS, DHI and DGI scales. DGI and BBS scores were found to be higher in male patients, but the difference obtained in BBS was not significant. There was no significant difference in dynamic visual acuity, unterberger, tandem stance eyes open and eyes closed tests (p>0.05). When the risk of falling was evaluated in patients with BVH and UVH, significant results were obtained in all parameters when FRS-DS, DHI, DGI and BBS were compared. When looking at patients with BPPV, negative results were observed between FRS-DS and BBS, negative between DHI and BBS, positive but non-significant results were observed between BBS and DGI, while significant results were obtained in other parameters. When the vestibular dysfunction groups were compared among themselves with the evaluations and scales, no significant difference was found in the parameters except the Unterberger test. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the risk of falling was significantly increased and higher in young adult individuals with vestibular dysfunction, and that the vestibular system evaluation has an important place in the comprehensive assessment of fall risk.